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Qn: Aperture to use?

I've noticed in the galleries that people rarely use their widest aperture for a variety of shots, but instead choose to use smaller apertures with a longer exposure (take the moon shots, for example: f/11, exp > 1s). Some macro shots are also taken at about f/5.6 ~ f/11. Is there some reason for this, or is it purely specific to the type of shots taken?

Also, if I were to take shots in the night, what type of settings should I roughly use?

The aperture you used will depend on what you shoot and how you want your pictures to turn out. A smaller aperture (bigger f number) will give you a deeper DOF. That means more portion of your picture will be sharp in which you can make out more details.

Actually, to add on to the previous posting by two other members. One other reason is because the sweet spot or the sharpest aperture is often 2-3 stops above the widest aperture, which then it will start to lose it's sharpness after the sweet spot.

For macro,
using a large aperature(e.g.: f/5.6 or larger) does not give u a large enough DOF. U'll need at least or average of about f/8 or f/11 to get acceptable DOF.

For nite shots,
using smaller aperature (f/8 or smaller) will give u a "star-filter" effect, depends on your lens. Since shutter speed decreases, will give u a smooth reflection from the surface of the water.